Main Entry: writerheadPronunciation: \ˈrī-tər-hed\Function: nounFirst Known Use: circa 1995
1 : a (usually) temporary state of dreamy concentration and fluctuating consciousness during which a writer feels most creative, productive, and artistic < upon waking in the morning, rolling out of bed, gently shushing one’s husband, and settling in at one’s desk: “Sssshhhh, I’m in writerhead” – Kristin Bair O’Keeffe >

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Monthly Archives: July 2012

It’s Mojo Monday, and as always, I’ve got a little something-something to lift your creative spirits, buoy you up, help you get your mojo on, and nudge (or better yet, catapult) you into writerhead.

I talk/think about/explore culture a good bit in my life—especially lately in my #38Write workshops—and this Volkswagen ad for car designed by a young Chinese woman from Chengdu, says so much. It reveals a good about China, the city of Chengdu, the importance of family in China, love, and all of the creativity going on in China right now. (Also, who is the announcer? He’s pretty terrific, too!)

Welcome to Writerhead Wednesday, a weekly feature in which a brilliant, charming, remarkable author talks about her/his writerhead…a precious opportunity for looky-loos around the world to sneak into the creative noggins of talented writers and (ever so gently) muck about.

Writerhead Wednesday is officially on summer hiatus. I promise, this feature will resume in a few weeks, but in the meantime, enjoy your own writerhead. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, bask in the buttery warmth of summer; if you’re in the southern hemisphere where it’s cold and blustery right now, I’m sorry for you.

Just kidding.

If you’re in the southern hemisphere, you can hunker down in writerhead just as easily as those of us who are warm and buttery. Probably much more easily, since you’re not being lured outside by lightning bugs and barbecues and sandy beaches.

So go, beautiful writers. Be in writerhead. Write.

And in the meantime, if you need a little inspiration, a writerhead fix, head over to the Writerhead Wednesdayarchives; there’s something there for everyone.

38Write—my [new-ish] global writing initiative—is a monthly series of online writing adventure workshops for place-passionate, culturally curious writers around the world. Each writing adventure focuses on one particular aspect of craft or the writing life (for example, writing kick-butt descriptions), and during each 38-hour adventure, writers connect with me and 38Write writers around the world via a Twitter hashtag. It’s new. It’s different. It’s crazy, mad fun!

And for this round, I’ve incorporated Pinterest into the mix. I’ve created a group board for #38Write writers, and they’re pinning all kinds of incredible images related to structure and place. It’s serving a couple of key purposes: inspiration, as well offering an opportunity for #38Write writers all over the world to get to know one another. Check it out here:

It’s Mojo Monday, and as always, I’ve got a little something-something to lift your creative spirits, buoy you up, help you get your mojo on, and nudge (or better yet, catapult) you into writerhead.

Toni Morrison recently talked to Charlie Rose about her new novel Home, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and why she writes. Here are a few gold nuggets:

“Well, you know, I’m trying not to write just because I can. Or just write more. I’m trying to write less that needs more. That says more. To refine it in a way.”

“I think art really is the acquisition of knowledge. And it can lead knowledge to wisdom. That’s what I write for. That’s what I read about in other people’s work. It’s not playground. It’s not just creative writing, you know, sort of a nice little self-involved enterprise. For me, it’s extremely important, for the clarification, not only of the past, but of who we are as human beings in this country.”

“Writing books for me is Eden. It’s everything. It’s free. It’s so free. And it has a danger that I can control. You know, the danger of making a mistake and doing it wrong. But I can control that. And it’s mine. And nobody tells me what to do.”

And when Charlie asks, “Have you written the stories you want to write?” she says, “Not all of them. There’s one more.”

38Write—my [new-ish] global writing initiative—is a monthly series of online writing adventure workshops for place-passionate, culturally curious writers around the world. Each writing adventure focuses on one particular aspect of craft or the writing life (for example, writing kick-butt descriptions), and during each 38-hour adventure, you’ll be connecting with me and 38Write writers around the world via a Twitter hashtag. It’s new. It’s different. It’s crazy, mad fun!

I sat down just now to write a blog entry about why #38Write is the writing workshop for you, but instead, I find myself in writerhead, being drawn to work on a piece I’ve been writing about the chicken man in Shanghai. All kinds of things are stirring me up creatively this morning: this NYTimes piece about singer/songwriter Frank Ocean; Julian Gough’s open letter to Jonathan Ive (and Apple) about a short story he wrote called “iHole” (which I discovered via a Tweet on Sunday morning); and even this study about how dogs in an office setting can reduce stress (weaving it into my argument for taking my new pup to work).

So if you’re sitting out there in China or Ireland or Boracay or Alaska, thinking, hhhmmm, 38Write? Yay? Nay?